


A Familiar Face

by blaxkprism



Series: The Inventor and The Business Man [1]
Category: DR. SEUSS - Works, The Lorax (2012), The Lorax - Dr. Seuss
Genre: Alternate Universe, Amazing, Angst, Gen, How Do I Tag, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Identity Swap, M/M, Mention of Character Death, Mentions of Environmental Issues, Oncest - Freeform, Oncest? In 2019?, Regret, Secret Identity, Secrets, Self-Hatred, Suicidal Thoughts, What if The Greed-ler and The Once-ler were two separate individuals?, What if? scenario
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-20
Updated: 2019-06-20
Packaged: 2020-05-15 06:48:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19290427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blaxkprism/pseuds/blaxkprism
Summary: The Once-ler has a conversation with an old friend that opens up a can of worms.





	A Familiar Face

Five years.

It’s been five years since your encounter with Ted Wiggins.

It's been five long years since Ted Wiggins went in search of you to learn about the story of trees and proved that he was someone that cared a whole awful lot.

Five years since Ted partook on a mission to remind everyone in the walled town of New Thneedvile about the importance of trees.

Five years since the last seed was planted and the walls encaging Thneedvile came crumbling down, and O’Hare was exposed for the deceitful man he was.

Life has slowly started to come back to the once desolate and contaminated environment of Old Thneedvile. Seedlings have begun to sprout, and the air that used to be thick with ash, soot, and pollution is breathable again. The first sprouts of Truffla trees have started to poke their head out from beneath the soil and expose themselves to the morning sunlight. The air is clean to the point that an individual can leave their home without a gas mask and not worry about hacking and coughing every few minutes now.

Yes, life is flourishing again in the once inhabitable wasteland.

The recent return of the Lorax proved this to you.

A year ago, you nearly cried at the sight of the mustache furball slowly drifting down from the sky above and landing 10 feet in front of you. You remember feeling a range of different emotions at the time. But the one that stood out the most to you was the feeling of joy. You hadn't experienced such intense pleasure in your life since before the last tree fell. 

After the last tree fell, your life spiraled down the drain, and you couldn't blame anyone but yourself.

Not your family, lawyers, money, etc.

Just you.

You gave up a long time ago, believing that things would go back to the way they once were.

As time moved on, you believed that people had forgotten about you and the trees and that you would die bearing the regrets of the poor decisions you made as a young lad.

Due to your selfishness and pride, not only Thneedvile, but the world was thrown into chaos. Your efforts to keep on biggering and biggering the company robbed the world of most of its natural resources and resulted in people fighting for those remaining. Riots and wars broke out between countries and civilizations as people tried to figure out a way to survive in the new waste-filled world.

Animals and sea creatures fled as they tried to scavenge for food in some place that you dared not yet touch. 

You became known as the vilest and greediest man ever to exist.

You felt that the slandering of your name was rightfully justified.

Currently, you're sitting on the rocking chair Ted gifted you last year on the front porch of your home. Your home is a tall, thin, and sturdy structure. It is a remnant of your large old company that you were allowed to keep. All other structures were either destroyed or deconstructed. 

You're staring out into the new world around you in disbelief of how lucky you are.

You can witness the correction of your past mistakes. Slowly, the Swamme-Swans and Humming-fish have started to come back to the land by sky and water. So you can only expect the Brown Bar-ba-loots to return soon as well.

Most individuals don’t get to witness the rectifying of their past mistakes during their lifetime. Most tend to accept them and pass on to the afterlife with a heavy heart and mind, loathing themselves until their last breath.

Yes, you are a lucky man, indeed.

However, despite this development, your heart and mind are not entirely soothed nor lifted.

At night, you are haunted by thoughts of _him_.

When drifting off into a slumber, you can’t help but think of him and the pain you caused him. It's at those times that the regret and bitterness become too much and you feel your stomach churn, and you're unable to drift off again. 

Its moments, such as those where you desire is at it's strongest, and you wish he were right beside you to take pleasure in this new world.

You can’t help but wish that you could have done right by him and made amends on your broken promises.

You can’t help but think that you are not as deserving to partake in this new world compared to him.

If only -

At that moment, you see dark shadows moving up the hill at a slow pace. At first, you believe it to be the Bar-ba-loots yet as they get closer you notice the figures are too tall to be them.

It takes a moment for your eyes to adjust and make out the slow dark figures making their way up towards you.

Not too many people come to visit you. Many of the inhabitants of Thneedvile still living within the town that O’Hare had built. Majority of them afraid to venture out and explore the world because they’ve been kept behind walls for so long. Also, you're pretty sure that those still alive who remember you have warned their grandchildren, grandnieces, and grandnephews to beware of you. That they warned them you were a greedy man who destroyed everything he touched and cared for no one but himself.

Again. It’s not as if the defaming of your name wasn’t warranted.

Besides, you were used to it. The piles of newspapers and articles you kept in the attic that slandered and tarnished your name for years is proof of that.

Those articles referred to you by every foul and nasty name in the dictionary. Heck, there were a couple of new words that were created and added to it because of how horrid people saw you.

Keeping this in mind, you can only think of two people who would dare visit you and associate themselves with you.

The Lorax and Ted Wiggins.

Sure enough, it’s one of them.

It happens to be Ted Wiggins and his grandmother, Norma Wiggin’s.

You practically almost stumble out of your seat at the site of Norma.

It’s been ages since you last saw her.

Ever since the walls of New Thneedvile went up, you didn’t hear hide nor hair from her.

Actually, that’s a lie.

You did see Norma once before. But that was a long time ago. It was a few years after the last tree fell and the creation of New Thneedvile by O’Hare. You disguised yourself and snuck into the town, knowing if anyone saw and recognized your face, it would spark a cry of outrage. 

You asked around town had anyone heard of a Norma Wiggins, and after asking around for 30 minutes, you ended up at her front door to tell her the heart-wrenching news of what happened to _him_.

You can still remember Norma screaming at you at the top of her lungs, while tears streamed down her face.

You remember her kicking you out of her home as she was yelling that she never wanted to see you again.

After she slammed her door in your face, you calmly picked yourself off the ground and dusted yourself off before promptly leaving the premises and New Thneedvile.

You didn’t think she was still alive until you met her grandson. Her grandson explaining that it was his grandmother, Norma, that told him to find you if he wanted to learn the truth about what happened to the trees.

At first, you didn’t believe that Ted’s grandmother was the Norma you once knew until the boy showed you a picture of her and his mother he kept in his wallet.

At that moment, you believed him. You could recognize that curly and unruly hair anywhere.

You remember staring in deep thought at the photo while the boy prattled on about his family.

God.

_Family._

Sometimes you forget that there are those blessed to come from a loving and caring home. That there are people that unconditionally love their children and don’t base their children’s self-worth on their accomplishments and failures in life.

You can’t help but think how fortunate Ted Wiggins is for having a loving family.

But how could you expect anything less from Norma? She wouldn’t be anything else but kind and loving to her children and grandchildren.

You could remember a many of times Norma was supportive and a dear friend to you in your time of need. It was when you went off the deep end that she couldn’t support your actions because she was sickened by how much you changed as a person.

Never once did you hold hatred against her for abandoning you.

You only wished that she took _him_ along with her when she left.

As the two got closer, you begrudgingly rose up from your rocking chair on the front porch and slowly made your way over to them.

‘Well,’ you thought. ‘Might as well get this agonizing reunion over with.’

“My, my, my,” you call out.  "You sure have grown since the last time I saw you, Ted. What are you now? 19?”

Ted laughs at your question.

“Nope. I’m 17. I know it's been a minute since I last visited you, but you can’t be getting all senile on me already. Right, old man?”

Your eyebrow twitches at the small dig at your old age.

Young people sure do have fewer manners these days, huh? You could never get away with saying such a comment to any of your elder's faces.

“I’ll have you know lad,” you remark while waving a finger at him.  “I may be old, but I still have my sense of mind and a bit of pep in my step.”

You feel the corners of your lips lift and form a smirk on your face.

“So be careful with your choice of words.”

At that moment, Norma decided to join the conversation instead of standing idly by her grandson's side. 

“Or you’ll do what?” Norma inquires. Her hands are on her hips, and her hip is jutted out to one side. She is lightly glaring at you. A warning sign if you knew any better, and you do.

For an older woman in her mid-70’s, she sure can make someone feel small with the intensity of her gaze.

How nostalgic.

“I’m pretty sure you can’t do anything with those scrawny spider limbs of yours anyways.”

You can't help but pout at her comment.

It’s not your fault you were so ridiculously tall and lean. Blame genetics. The last time you were measured, you stood at the height of 196 cm, a height declared above average for “normal” men.

_He_ was above average as well, standing at 195.3 cm.

But neither of you noticed the slight difference in height because you were both strangely tall.

You two made the perfect pair.

“I’ll have you know, _mam,_ ” you stress at Norma. You have to remember not to call her by her name because Ted doesn't know that the two of you share history. You can't act too familiar, or he would become suspicious. "You should not judge a book by its cover. I may be old, and my limbs may be long, but they do hold quite a punch. ”

Norma stares at you. Her eyes crinkle as she smiles at you.  “And I’ll have you know, _sir_." She says with the same stress as you. "That if you dare touch one strand on my grandson’s pretty little head… Well, let’s say that it won’t be very nice.”

How could you forget that Norma is not a force to be reckoned with and that her words shouldn’t be taken lightly?

You try to keep your facial expression reserved and controlled, but you can feel a line of sweat trickle down the side of your face.

God, how you missed her.

And god, you hope that Ted never told her about the boot. 

“All right, guys,” Ted states. He is holding his hands up in a calming manner, believing that you two are going to start arguing. “Let’s calm down.”

The young man then places his hand on his grandma’s shoulder. “Grandma Norma, I thought you wanted to meet the Once-ler, not fight with him.”

Norma turns to her grandson, flabbergasted. “I do.” She gasped. “I always wanted to meet the man that told folks the story of the trees and made my grandson a local hero.”

Ted becomes flustered by this comment.

Norma’s eyes then turn to you, and you can see the glint behind them. “However, sometimes you got to remind someone of their place if they step too far out of line.

You involuntarily flinch at Norma’s comment, believing it to be a jab at his past actions. God, the conversation between both of you is going to be awkward and strained.

Ted shakes his head at his grandmother’s response. The expression on his face a perfect example of someone exhausted and done with life.

“Once-ler,” he sighs. His eyes are apologetic when they look up at you. He places his hands on Norma’s shoulders and kindly pushes her forward. “This is my grandmother, Norma Wiggins. I know I've mentioned her to you a few times before, but here she is in the flesh.”

The Once-ler nods his head at Tod's words and tips his hat as a sign of greeting.

“A pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Wiggins.”

“The pleasure is all mine.” Norma purrs.

Ted makes vomiting sounds at this, and you can't help but lightly chuckles at the kid's antics. If only the kid knew he had nothing to worry about if he thought you would try to romance his grandmother. You and Norma were strictly friends in the past, and the two of you shared similar taste in love interests at one point in your life.

“Anyways," Ted announces after getting over his initial disgust at his grandmother's words. "I brought her out here because she kept demanding that she meets the infamous man and the legendary Lorax.”

“Ah. The Orange Fuzzball?” You reply. “He should be around here somewhere. He’s probably down by the river. There’s been a recent migration of animals from down south since the land is no longer inhabitable.”

Ted nods his head. “Gotcha.”

Ted turns to his face towards his grandmother. “Well, granny, I’ll be right back. I’m going to get the Lorax for you so you can introduce yourself to him.”

“Okay Teddy, I’ll be here waiting, having a nice chit chat with The Once-ler.”

“Teddy?” You say, jokingly.

Both Norma and you laugh at the disgruntled expression that comes across Ted’s face.

“Grandma Norma!” He whines.

After the two of you stop laughing, Ted waves at the two of you as a sign of departure, he then heads off past the house towards the lake in search of The Lorax.

You both watch as Ted’s figure gets farther and farther away.

_“So Once-ler_ ,” Norma speaks. “It’s been quite some time.”

You nod your head in agreeance. “It surely has Norma. Nearly 50 years, I believe. I can’t believe you’re still around.”

She smirks. “I could say the same to you mister, but here we are.”

Norma shuffles her feet as she tries to choose her next words wisely. A nervous habit she's had since the two of you were young. It appears she hasn't grown out of it.

"I haven't come here to yell at you again," Norma declares.

"Oh? Is that so?" You remark in surprise. You don't know what you were expecting, but it wasn't that.

"No, I haven't." She states. Norma then runs her fingers in her curly hair and lets out a long exhale. She appears confused and uncomfortable as you feel.

“May I ask, how are you doing?” Norma inquires.

At her inquiry, you decide to look up at the sky after her question. As you look up at the sky, again, you think how you believed you would never get the chance to see a clear blue sky once again. For the last couple of decades, you had gotten used to the dark, cloudy, and gloomy skies of the desolate wasteland.

You wait a minute before replying.

“I’m doing better than I have in a long time,” you reply truthfully.

The corners of Norma's lips lift into a soft smile.

“I can tell,” she tells you gently.

You return your attention to her, raising a quizzical eyebrow in her direction.

She chuckles at your expression and shakes her head. “There’s life back in your eyes now,” she explains. “Not like the last time I saw you. Your eyes were cold and unapproachable then. You would look at most people as if they were nothing more than gum stuck to the bottom of your shoe.”

“I was lost back then,” you tell her.

She nods her head in confirmation. “Yes. I know you were. However, you’re back now.”

The smile on Norma's face grows wider.

“You did well. I’m proud of you.”

You don't reply to her comment. Instead, you choose to continue staring at your surroundings.

It takes a moment before you decide to speak up. 

“I never imagined this would happen," you mention to her.

She stares at you in response, waiting for you to carry on.

You take a deep breath before opening up to Norma about the dark thoughts that have been plaguing your mind for the last several decades.

“I never thought that I would be here to witness the corrections of my mistakes,” you state. "I thought I would die alone in the small remains of my company and be written down in history as the worst man to ever existed.”

“I don’t think you’re the worst man ever to exist," Norma interjects. “O’Hare may have you beat.”

You can't help but chuckle at this.

“Maybe.”

However, the humor doesn’t last, and your mood turns somber again.

“I spent the last decades hating myself for the person I turned into,” you explain.  “I became someone I hated, and there were times I spent hours staring at my ceiling, wishing for death to come for me. I felt that death was the only repentance for my actions. When my self-hate got bad, there were times I felt like taking that stupid Thneed and wrapping it around my neck and - You can guess the rest.”

Norma doesn't interject this time and remains quiet. The expression on her face calm and collected.

“However, I knew that death was an easy way out for running away from my problems. So, I kept waiting and waiting in my tower for someone to come asking about trees. To finally be able to tell someone my cautionary tale about pride and greed. Waiting for someone to care. Never did I think that individual would be your grandson.”

While you were explaining this to her, you had your back turned away from her. After you finished, you turned around to face her. “You grandson is a good kid Norma. You did an excellent job.”

“Thanks,” she replies. “Yet, I can’t take all the credit though. Ted's mother, my daughter, did most of the child rearing. Also, Richard had a hand in teaching him a few things before he passed away.”

Ah, Richard. You remember he was only a few inches taller than Norma and that he had a slight lisp when he talked.

“I still can't believe you married him,” The Once-ler remarks.

“Oh? And why is that?” Norma asks.

“Considering most interactions I had with him involved him stuttering and tripping over his feet to garner your attention? I am allowed to be shocked.”

Norma lets out a bellowing laugh at this.

You haven't heard Norma’s laughter in forever. It’s still as loud and shrill as you remember it.

“Richard is... Was great.” She responds in between fits of laughter. She wipes a tear from her eyes out of merriment. “He was an amazing husband, father, and grandfather. I think he would be proud that you found your way back if he was still here.”

You don’t know how to take to this admission and decide to hold your head down.

The next words that pass from Norma’s lips are words you dare feared she would say.

“Not only Richard but _him_ too. He would be happy to see what you have done.”

At the comment, you become disgruntled and agitated. You know what Norma's trying to do, but it's not worth it. You know the truth, and you wish she wouldn't try to make you feel better since you are not worthy of much forgiveness.

“No. He wouldn’t,”  you tell Norma sincerely.

After everything that happened, there’s no chance in this godforsaken world would he be proud of you.

After the last tree fell, he became closed off and would hardly speak to you unless necessary.

You broke a piece of him.

You're positive; he mostly stayed with you because he felt he had no other place to go.

There's a look of pity that flashes across Norma's face as she looks at you. 

“Oh, dear. You can’t possibly believe that?” She asks in concern.

“Yes I do,” you state. “He wouldn’t be happy for me. I’m pretty sure he would not want anything to do with me to this day.”

Norma blinks at you in shock.

“Are you serious?” She whispers. Her voice is low to the point you almost missed what she said.

“Deadly.”

It’s silent between you two before Norma decides to speak up.

“Now, you know that is a _goddamn _lie. He would be proud of you and happy to see how far you’ve come over the years. Just as am I.”__

You shake your head at Norma words. Her words were ringing empty on deaf ears. 

“No, Norma. You’re wrong. He- ”

“Do not tell me that I am wrong!” Norma shouts. You see her face become flushed as anger starts to rise within her. “You and I both know that he was never a resentful person, and he could never hold such hatred against anyone. Especially against you, no matter how much you fucked up.”

“Norma-"

“He loved you, Greed! No. _Gregory_. He may have been disappointed in you but never hateful. You need to stop blaming yourself and learn to forgive yourself. You have made mistakes in your life with severe consequences, but look at what you've done. You've changed your life around and tried to fix your mistakes. That's more than most people can say for themselves.”

Ah.

_Gregory._

How long has it been since you’ve heard your real name?

You've gone by The Once-ler for so long you've almost forgotten it.

No one knows who you are.

That your birth name is Gregory Isidore Lewis, and greed is a nickname that was given to you during your youth.

Also, the Once-ler is the name of your deceased lover.

“Look at the world around you," Norma voices to you with her arms spread out wide. "This is a sign of a new beginning not only for the world but for you.

She shakes her head at you in agitation.

“Once-ler would be hurt to hear these words coming out from your mouth.”

You chew at the bottom of you lip out of anxiety.

"If it weren’t for me, Once-ler would still be around," You say calmly. "The results of my actions are what caused not only _Oncie_ but many others to get sick. Once died because of the severity of the pollution, and he got gravely ill.”

The expression on Norma's faces turns sours at your words.

“I’m not saying that the results of your actions didn’t play a part in Once-ler’s death," she states. "However, Oncie made his choices as well.”

You look at Norma as if she sprouted a second head.

Her facial expression shifts between one of regret and fatigue as she looks upon you.

“I know I blamed you for his death all those years ago, but this is a fact I’ve grown to accept as time move on.”

“How could you say that?” You whisper to her in disbelief.

“Once shouldn’t have been outside," She expresses. "He should have listened to you and come inside the home when the air became so bad people were coughing up black ash. He chose to stay outside instead of staying inside your home where you had air filters. He put a lot of effort in trying to grow that darn seed, ignoring the Lorax's last words to you both. He put himself at risk and would not listen to reason. He didn’t even wear a gas mask! He knew how polluted the air quality was and still put himself in danger! As a result, he got sick and passed away due to a decrease in his health.”

You shake your head at Norma's words. You can't believe what you're hearing.

“No, Once-ler died because I killed him,” You reaffirm to her.

“Greed!”

“Don’t try to convince me otherwise, Norma!" You exclaim. "I killed him! I’m the one that ran the company and was in control of the business deals. I am the one that kept biggering and biggering until our company and everything around us collapsed. My decisions are what killed him.”

“Once played a part too Greed," Norma counters. "He agreed and followed your every order and decision. He enjoyed and relished in the fame that came along with the widespread Thneed too. At first, he ignored all the damage the Thneeds and the machines were doing to the environment around him.”

“That’s because I convinced him!” You argued back.

“Gregory!”

“No, Norma!”

You take a moment to catch your breath and calm yourself down. It's not right for you to be screaming like such at your old age. 

“I ruined Oncie’s name and tarnished it," you voice out to her. "The Thneed was his invention, but he left me in charge to run the business and help with finances because I understood it better than him due to my upbringing. I let my pride and my “family issues” dictate my actions. Everyone remembers Once-ler as the person that created the Thneed and blamed him for the incident when I was the cause of it."

You take off your green top hat and scratch at your head in exasperation.

“That is why I took on his name after his passing. I wanted a chance not to redeem myself, but Oncie because he didn’t deserve it. He didn’t deserve any of it.”

At that moment, you see the figures of Ted and the Lorax in the distance heading towards the two of you.

“It seems your grandson has come back with poof-ball,” You comment to Norma. Norma’s eyes shift from you to the figure of her grandson.

“We might as well greet them." You declare to her to run away from the conversation.

You put back on your hat and begin to walk away from her.

“Greed," Norma calls out. "Do not think-“

“Norma," you speak softly. She stops mid-sentence because of the tone of your voice. It sounds broken and tired.

"Just... Just stop." You mutter under your breath.

“This is the hole I made for myself… I’m meant to lay in it. That’s all.”

You continue on your walk away from Norma and heads towards Ted and the Lorax. You ignore the feeling of eyes intensely following your every movement.

When you get close enough, you put on a faux smile when you greet the two.

You put in the effort to not to think of blue eyes that shined like the ocean on the brightest day and curly dark hair that fell in waves and coiled around a round face.

Yes. This is the hole you made for yourself, and you're meant to lay in it.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Recently, I rewatched The Lorax (2012) and got flooded with a lot of old feels. I remember denying I liked Oncest in high school and being sad when I learned how the fandom self-destructed itself and deleted the majority of their works. Basically, this story is a What If Scenario? What if The Greed-ler and The Once-ler both existed in the Lorax Universe and were lovers. 
> 
> I'm sure there are grammar errors, but I tried my best to catch them.


End file.
